SHIFT
by Dividing Line
Summary: "Hand-to-paw, face to muzzle, skin to fur. She was pinned in place by a beast of the like she'd never seen, never dreamed of outside of fairytales. Then it's great jaw opened, and all became darkness." Full summary inside. Supernatural fic. Ichiruki, minor RenRuki initially, other pairings included.


_**SHIFT**_

_**Summary:**_

**"Hand-to-paw, face to muzzle, skin to fur. She was pinned in place by a beast of the like she'd never seen, never dreamed of outside of fairytales. Then it's great jaw opened, and all became darkness."**

**_One dark night she'd never forget. What had begun as fun out in the woods turned into an evening with a monster. A monster that had, in the haze of bloodlust, bestowed it's legacy upon her; the mark of the Were._**

**_But allies are soon found in unexpected places- and just in time, for a war is brewing, and unknown to Rukia, she is right in the thick of it._**

* * *

><p><em>Was this how it felt to die?<em>

_Lying alone, in the dark, with nobody to hear your cries? Your beg for mercy? Your pleas for it to just be over- for the cool darkness to creep in and consume you, to bless you with numbness._

_Rukia didn't know. Between the agony of the beast that had clamped it's thick jaw onto her shoulder, salivating at the taste of her fresh blood spilling between it's nightmare teeth and thick, rancid tongue, she could hardly think of her own name. _

_Slowly, the light of the full moon shining above seemed to fade. The great huge, ruby eyes of the beast that minutes ago had been staring into hers, dimmed. It's growls of pleasure and the sound of her own bones cracking and snapping began to trickle into a mere whisper._

_Her nightmare was drawing to a close, and she was going with it. _

_With one last, fighting choke of breath, she gratefully tumbled into the abyss._

* * *

><p>They had been walking from the car, not quite hand in hand. He'd tried to grab onto her tiny palm a few times- she'd simply put it in her pocket, and he'd given up.<p>

Rukia didn't do hand holding.

And they'd wandered into the thickness of the trees. Her deep violet eyes followed his confident steps on the path. They'd done this a million times. A few minutes of passion with no-one but the trees as their silent witness. For her it was a release of some animal tension she didn't have time for a boyfriend, and Renji knew that. For him… She had a feeling it was a more. He definitely tried to make it more, with things like the hand-holding attempts and he tried to kiss her, or cuddle her afterwards as they lay on the grass getting their breath back. Each attempt was batted away by the small woman ruthlessly. So he knew where he stood, but it didn't stop him trying.

It was about ten minutes after they had found their usual clearing, between a few tightly packed oak trees and tall bushes, that they heard the first sound of try twigs snapping underfoot.

"Renji, what was that?" Rukia whispered furiously, stopping her movements, and beginning to unwrap her legs from his waist, fidgeting against the tree she was resting against.

Renji made an incoherent noise into her throat in response, and grabbed onto her falling legs, hiking her back up. The small woman slapped at his hand and began to push against his shoulders, making him stop his ministrations.

"I'm serious Renji, what if someone's there? They could be watching us." She whispered. Renji shook his long red hair, which had long fallen out of it's ponytail, and smiled.

"Don't be so silly babe. Besides, if there is anyone watching," He paused with a devilish smile before thrusting his hips again, "We'll give 'em a show, eh?" Rukia made a small noise of agreement, as just as they were about to re-commence their love-making, a low, throaty growl echoed through the clearing.

The small woman squeaked and begun to squirm away from her lover, eyes wide in fright. "Oh my God Renji there is definitely something there." Renji nodded his head, equally freaked out. The pair disentangled themselves from each other, and began righting their rumpled clothing.

The tall man murmured softly to Rukia, pulling up his zipper, "We should get moving. We're not far from the car, we can make it back in-"

The growl echoed out again, more savage than before, breaking Renji off.

"Oh!" Rukia squeaked, her eyes widening further. "Come on Renji, let's get moving, whatever it is we've pissed it off!" She allowed, in her fear, for Renji to grab her hand as he begun to lead her, as quickly as he could, towards the path. Soon the pair were running, dry underbrush and twigs cracking and making a racket in their wake, the illumination from the moon their only guiding light.

A howl rang out behind them, and Rukia froze. Renji span around and grabbed on her hand, tugging on it. Loud, heavy thuds of their follower echoed around them, it's heavy panting and growling thick in the air all around them. It didn't seem to come from any one direction, but all of them- they were slowly being rounded up, Rukia realised, her heart in her throat.

"Come on Rukia," Renji gasped, pulling at her arm desperately, "We're nearly there. Come on, keep going!" Rukia let out a whimper, and gestured behind him, her body beginning to tremble. Renji let out a low moan of fear.

"It's there." The tiny woman uttered, her shaking finally subsiding as she accepted their fate. Renji slowly turned on his heel, and came face to face with the beast. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

It must have stood at least 5 feet tall, on four thick, muscled legs. Fur coated it's huge form, as black as the night itself, right down to great huge paws the span of Renji's head, with menacing claws that were easily the length of a man's forearm and curled into deadly spikes. A large, furred tail swished between it's back legs. Overall the beast gave an aura of smugness it had it's prey right where it wanted it, and now his efforts would pay off. The huge muzzle opened to bear the great flashing white teeth, and saliva drooled out between them as the beast begun to inch forwards.

Rukia and Renji shifted back, no longer making a sound. What good would yelling for help do them now, Rukia panicked, and though she had been avoiding it, she looked into the beast's face. It's great garnet eyes stared back at her, and there was a fierce, animal intelligence in them. She swallowed.

"Renji," She whispered, "You're faster than I am. When I say so, run for your life." Her voice broke on the last word.

"Rukia don't be ridiculous, I can't leave you here. You run-"

"No," she interrupted him, "It'll catch me in moments. You have a better chance of escaping. Go get help, I'll find somewhere to hide. Get up a tree maybe. Just go, okay?" Renji opened her mouth and she silenced him with a fierce look. "I'll be fine. When I say so, run." Her companion swallowed and nodded, determined. "Okay." He whispered back.

Suddenly, Rukia made a dart off the path, and let out a piercing high-pitched screech like Renji had never heard before. In moments, the beast had ignored the taller man and bounded off after his moving prey, thrilled by the prospect of a real hunt.

"RUN!" Rukia screamed out from the distance over the beast's howls, and Renji did exactly that, hurtling through the brush towards his car and safety.

Rukia was already panting and the beast was hot on her heels. She had crawled under rocks and leapt over bushes, trying to make the path as difficult as possible for the beast to follow and give Renji more time to escape- it was fruitless, she knew, but at least she would go down trying her best rather than shivering and shaking on the path. Maybe, through her death, Renji would escape.

She prayed to whatever God was listening that he did.

Hurling her small form over another load of bushes, Rukia let out a cry as her foot caught on a stray root and she felt herself go tumbling down into a nearby ditch. The forest had gone silent again, and for a fearful moment, she wondered if the beast had ignored her in favour of the larger feast that Renji would provide.

"Falling down like in a frickin' horror movie. Stupid Rukia, stupid." She hissed at herself, attempting to get up from the curve she had fallen into.

Then bright, monstrous eyes met hers. The beast was right there, silent, waiting. Before, she realised, it had intended to frighten them by making so much noise. It could have attacked them as they were wrapped up in each other, blissfully unaware, but instead it had inspired them to run, so it could chase them…So it could enjoy the hunt. It shifted forwards, and pressed it's nose to her skin, inhaling deeply like a man smelling the bouquet of the finest wine. With a short nudge, it had her pushed onto her back paralyzed amongst the leaves and dirt. She raised a hand out of fear, and it pinned it with one huge paw, lowering it's weight over hers as it stared into her face. Hand-to-paw, face to muzzle, skin to fur. She was pinned in place by a beast of the like she'd never seen, never dreamed of outside of fairytales.

Then it's great jaw opened, and all became darkness.

She drifted. Dreamed. She saw Renji's face, contorted in fear as he'd too realised they were doomed. Imagined how Byakuya would react when she never came home. Would he call the police, fearing for his little sister? OR would he wait a few days, believing her to be staying with someone. Her phone was in Renji's car- if he never made it back, would it sit there, ringing for hours on end before someone discovered it in the morning when they went to open up the bar?

Pain lanced through her and she came almost to the surface of reality. It was almost too much to bear, like fire lancing all over her body, stabbing, slicing, cutting wherever it touched.

Was this how it felt to die?

Lying alone, in the dark, with nobody to hear your cries? Your beg for mercy? Your pleas for it to just be over- for the cool darkness to creep in and consume you, to bless you with numbness.

Rukia didn't know. Between the agony of the beast that had clamped it's thick jaw onto her shoulder, salivating at the taste of her fresh blood spilling between it's nightmare teeth and thick, rancid tongue, she could hardly think of her own name.

Slowly, the light of the full moon shining above seemed to fade. The great huge, ruby eyes of the beast that minutes ago had been staring into hers, dimmed. It's growls of pleasure and the sound of her own bones cracking and snapping began to trickle into a mere whisper.

Her nightmare was drawing to a close, and she was going with it.

With one last, fighting choke of breath, she gratefully tumbled into the abyss.

**A/N: I guess you could call this my come-back to writing. I missed it, and I've never written a supernatural story before, so I figured I'd give it a shot! **

**This isn't going to be a Ren-Ruki fic, by the way, so don't be put off by this, Ichi-Ruki fans! It'll all come into play.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-DL**


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